Christmas Tour of Garden District Homes

Being a Returns Reward Member, I must report that our stay was 100% comped with my RR points. Nevertheless, this is a good choice for budget-minded travelers, with just a few caveats.

Caveat number one is to avoid rooms on the fourth floor facing Camp Street. The hotel's machinery for maintaining the pool/sauna on the fifth floor will be right next to you, and the noise they make once is a while is distracting. The walls of our bathroom were even vibrating when the machinery kicked in!

Also, the work-out room is on the fifth floor, and you may, like us, hear noise from the use of the barbells/machines.

La Quita offers an okay continental breakfast, but if you need protein in the morning, there are a number of cafés close by (Mothers is on Podyras, which is only a short walk away!).

We took a shared shuttle in from the airport, although I understand parking is available for a fee. We (two females) always felt safe walking to the Quarter from here since the area is well lit and many large hotels with security or cleaning staff working (or taking a smoke) are around.

The best deal in the Quarter is Preservation Hall. For a mere $8, you can hear as many sets of the music the Big Easy is known worldwide for - jazz. Do know that there are no beverages or food served at Preservation Hall? They only serve up one thing, jazz. Also keep in mind that seating is very limited and consists of a few benches and cushions. Everyone else stands. A small sign prices requests. Standards are $5, but one in particular will set you back $10. Can you guess which song that is? Yep, Saints. If you’re lucky enough to get a cushion, you'll be so close to the musicians that you will fear that the trombone slide will clock you, but don't worry, it won't.

If you go, be sure to take a doggie bag from your fine New Orleans meal and share with Preservation Hall's resident feline, Jazz Cat. The Hall opens at 8pm, and the jazz sizzles until midnight. It is located on St. Peter between Bourbon and Royal.

Save Our Cemeteries is a non-profit group dedicated to restoring and preserving New Orleans's famous above-ground "Cities of the Dead". Tours are offered of Lafayette #1 (frequently seen in newer movies) in the Garden District and St. Louis #1, just above the French Quarter (most famously seen in Easy Rider). Guides are volunteers and do it because they love New Orleans and want to share it with visitors. Money is raised to keep up the cemeteries. Guides will explain the sometimes obscure symbolism of tomb decorations and tell you why burial in the Big Easy is above ground. A visit to Lafayette can be capped with lunch at Commander's Palace, just across the street. The St. Charles Streetcar can be used to easily reach Lafayette from your French Quarter hotel. St. Louis meets at the Royal Cafe on Royal St. Suggested donation is $6 for Lafayette and $12 for St. Louis. The higher cost of St. Louis pays in part for the off-duty presence of a New Orleans police officer. Going alone into the cemeteries is not recommended, especially for St. Louis #1. There is a St. Louis #2, but the neighborhood is so unsavory that few (including tour groups) go.

Magazine Street stretches from Canal to Audubon Park. A very large section of it (block 3000 or so and up) is populated by a variety of shops offering everything from antiques and jewelry to fine clothing and chocolates. It can easily be reached by public transportation (New Orleans city buses run up and down Magazine from the intersection of Canal and Camp) for $1.25 each way, exact change needed. I bought a unique Mexican Fire Opal ring and pendant at Sabai's, 3115 Magazine. There is a Magazine Street merchant's association, and they have a website if you want more information.

Every December, St. Louis Cathedral is the beautiful site for a month-long series of FREE Christmas concerts. Concerts start at 8pm every evening, with only an exception or two. This past trip, we heard a most excellent local gospel group, as well as famous jazz pianist, Ellis Marsailis. If you plan to be in the "Big Easy" next Christmas, check out the city's Christmas on the New Orleans website for a schedule.

The National D-Day Museum represents the new style of exhibition, one of being more interactive, with multimedia presentations throughout featuring, for example, taped eyewitness testimony to the events of D-Day combined with archival footage. The museum has expanded since it first opened its doors to include the Pacific Theater in WWII. Much like the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., many of the Pacific wing's exhibits are not recommended for children under 14 or those who are easily upset. I appreciate the honesty in these exhibits, though, because I feel it does not "baby" the audience.

Seeing the museum takes about 2 hours, and the facility is easily reached by using public transportation. (The Magazine Street bus can be picked up at Canal at Camp. at a cost of $1.25; exact change is needed). The museum fee for adults is $10. If you are hungry, there is a small snack bar, but the food is middling at best. Plan to lunch somewhere else.

The entrance, as well as the sidewalks outside, is paved with bricks inscribed with names of veterans. My dad, PFC Pedro E. Garcia, is to your right of the entrance, just before the stairs. I was very pleased with the location of his brick. Bricks may still be purchased for $100. The museum is still growing and plans a major expansion in the coming years.

We took the nighttime dinner/jazz cruise aboard the Steamboat Natchez. I was somewhat disappointed with the entire experience.

The food was just so-so, very "cafeteria" in its taste. The band was acceptable, but with little/no dance area, patrons were reduced to simply listening. There were deck chairs outside, but the night we went it was far too chilly to stay outside any length of time. Perhaps the cruise would be more enjoyable in summer, when there is more light later in the evening, as is it was dark when we left the dock and you couldn't see anything. There was no narration or guide outside either, so you don't know what you are looking at.

The cost ($57 per adult) was too much for what we received also. I think you're better off skipping this attraction altogether, grabbing dinner at Old Nawlins Cookery (try the Creole mustard chicken), and going to Preservation Hall for jazz.